Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls

Chicago based drummer and bandleader Ted Sirota and his throng of Rebel Souls play avant-garde post-bop that isn't for the faint of heart. Their music is their weapon and they point and shoot at oppressors and reactionaries past and present. Ted Sirota formed the avant-garde post-bop ensemble Rebel Souls in 1995 and quickly became one of Naim's stalwart jazz artists, with three stunning True Stereo recordings from Naim engineer Ken Christianson in five years (between 96-01). The Rebel Souls have a unique formula comprising of afro-pop, funk, reggae, ska and hip-hop underpinned by the rebellious jazz and socially aware improv of the 1960s. Cultivating what the Chicago Reader describes as "immediately recognizable sound". Over the years Sirota has hand picked some of Chicago's finest up and coming jazz cats to perform and record with, including Jeff Parker, Kevin Kizer, Jeff Hill, Rob Mazurek, Noel Kupersmith, Geof Bradfield, Greg Ward, Dave Miller and Jake Vinsel. Sirota boasts a varied arsenal of influences with jazz from Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk right through to reggae icon Bob Marley and world music from Nigeria's Fela Kuti. Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls strive to use their music as a weapon in the battle against oppression and reactionaries worldwide, and not merely as ‘art for art's sake'.